Beyond Buttercream

She’s on hiatus right now and not taking new orders. Disappointing because I really need to order a cake and she was my top choice.

Jennifer has my cake business for as long as I am in the Bay Area. Her product is both beautiful and delicious. After moving to the Bay Area, I searched for a well-​regarded cake maker for a special occasion, and found/​vetted Beyond Buttercream through online search and reviews. Jennifer helped me think through my order as I was unsure of how big the cake should be, what kind of flavors go well together, what kind of décor is possible, etc. Then, she produced to perfection. Of course, I went back to her again the next year for the same party, but this time went with her cupcakes instead of a big cake, and those turned out just as mouth-​watering and gorgeous as the cake. This December will be the third year hosting this party, and I know I will already be on Jennifer’s calendar.
In addition to having a consistently extremely-​high-​quality product, I like working with Jennifer because she is smart and personable. She knows how to run her business and simply does things well. Jennifer is highly sought after in the Bay Area, and something like that doesn’t just happen…
Thank you, Jennifer!

I’m about a month overdue for this, but it’s never to late to say how amazing Beyond Buttercream is!
I discovered Jennifer through a friend that not only had her wedding cake made, but orders cupcakes for her office on a regular basis. Before emailing Jennifer to request an appointment to discuss our wedding cake for March 8^th, I already knew we were getting the best. She met up with us, with all of her flavor combinations, and spent ample time going over them, as well as listening to what we were looking for in the design. She took the couple ideas I had and our colors and created a mock cake that was practically perfection on the first try! She is so creative!
Not only was the cake just stunning, it was equally delicious. We went with Vanilla Cake and alternating layers of Lemon Buttercream and Raspberry Jam. Everyone absolutely loved it!
It was beautiful, tasty and the service was amazing! Thanks, Jennifer!!!

The last time we used Jennifer was for our daughters wedding at the end of 2012. So when my friend was turning 60 this past April and her daughters (who were coming in from out of the country to celebrate) asked me about where they could get a good cake, I did not hesitate to recommend Beyond Buttercream.
Aye, but here was the rub. The birthday girl has severe lactose intolerance. What did Jennifer say? No problem! She said she’d make a devil’s food cake with raspberry preserves in the middle, and she came up with a delicious dairy free frosting!
The birthday girl lived much of her life in the Northern Mariana Islands so they wanted a tropical themed cake and something to represent her 10 grandchildren.
Jennifer placed beautiful and elegant pearlized shells along the bottom of the cake and then she made 10 beautiful plumeria flowers and placed a «pearl» inside each to represent the grand babies. It was just beautiful.
And the taste was just perfect! It was moist and delicious and we had many compliments on our choice of cake makers!
I still highly recommend Jennifer and and waiting for the next occasion when I can use her. ..

Bravo, to the owner Jennifer for her reply to my first review. I’m happy to see that more people can now clearly read a bit more of what her snarky attitude is like. And please do not lie by claiming I’ve edited your emails. All I did was omit any personal information pertaining to my wedding and other personal information of yours which I did not feel was necessary to post. I even excluded your price so if people still want to go with you, they can contact you directly. But God forbid any bride shows you inspiration using photos of other cakes or a photo they’ve found on Pinterest, because now we all know that would be a waste of time. However if potential clients are interested in seeing the full email chain, I may even consider forwarding it if anyone wants to send a private message to me.
I would like to advise Jennifer to clean up her act and to begin to treat potential clients better. You can still hate everyone and think they’re all idiots on Pinterest, but for the sake of your business, you should consider biting your tongue and faking it until you get your check. I wish Jennifer the best of luck in continuing to grow her business with her current business model.

I sure wish I had something more to go on than unanswered emails, pompous arrogance, and an obnoxious obsession with «budget».
Emails from our event planner with a less than American last name were casually ignored.
My email, white washed and diverse, was responded to in less than 12 hours.
Someone seeking services of this proclaimed caliber should at least be given the credit to presume that it is going to be exorbitantly expensive. In the future it would be wise to find out what someones wants before asking how much they are willing to spend.
Taking my business and budget elsewhere.

I been meaning to write how great Jennifer was as our chosen «cake person» for our wedding! She delivered what she promised and we were extremely happy with her service! We also met with a couple of other vendors and I can comfortably say that you don’t need to waste your time and just go with her from the get go! I can’t wait for an excuse to order a carrot cake from her in the future!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The best mini cupcakes I have ever had. Check out the Strawberries and Cream cupcakes. The buttercream frosting is out of this world.

Jennifer provided a great customer experience. Very responsive plus she delivered expertly decorated and great tasting cakes and cupcakes .Her signature peony cake and her cupcakes (especially LOVE the salted crème brûlée chocolate cup cake) were certified hits at a recent bridal shower. Local bakers claiming to be cake couture creators are ubiquitous these days— Jennifer is one of the rare ones that actually lived up to the hype!

Our wedding cake was totally delicious and looked incredible. Jennifer was very communicative and delivered our cake to a pretty challenging outdoor location. Highly recommended. Thanks so much!

This past weekend I had a threw a surprise bday for my best friend. I was in a panic to find a cake. I had called a week ahead to multiple vendors, but everywhere was already booked. Only 2 days before the event I emailed Jennifer requesting the pink ombré & peony cake and she was more than accommodating.
I had the cake delivered to the event directly (that was such an amazing option)! When it was time to serve it… everyone was in awe! It was the prettiest/​cutest thing anyone had ever seen (Even the manly men were obsessed) It was sooo yummmy!
Everyone at the party continue to talk about the cake, and the birthday girl could not be happier if she tried! I have already posted it on all the social media forums I regularly use!
Thank you again Jennifer! Hopefully we won’t have to wait till the next bday to get such an amazing gâteau!
Sooo happyyyy lalallaaa

I ordered a cake from Jennifer for my boyfriend’s 30^th birthday and it was okay… I guess I had higher expectations because when I got it, I wasn’t thoroughly impressed. The picture of the cake I sent in looked better than the actual cake I got. It costed over $ 200 for this 6″ birthday cake and for that amount, I had higher expectations.
Jennifer is really nice and responsive so this review is nothing against her as a person. The buttercream on the cake and the texture of the cake itself was really hard and tasted like it had been made the day before or a few days before and then left in the fridge until the day of. The cake was supposed to be gray, blue, and white. It looked more like it was brown, blue and white.
The external layer of the cake was wrapped in chocolate and was really nicely created, but as far as taste inside of the actual cake, it was just okay. I give it three stars.
I’ve ordered fancy cakes before and I’ve had a better ones than this. The place I usually go to is Café Madeleine in SF. The pricing is similar and Café Madeleine doesn’t let you pick as many flavors as Jennifer does for cake or buttercream, but their cakes are truly delicious on the inside and truly beautifully made on the outside. Try both bakers and decide for yourself.

I have owed this wonderful company a 5 star review for a while. She completed a beautiful 3-​tiered cake at my wedding a year ago, and left us all speechless. Great job Jennifer!

Utterly remarkable. Jennifer provided the cake for my wedding on 12÷16÷12. I will disclose that I’ve never had a sweet tooth. I generally don’t eat dessert. However, Jennifer’s cakes will always be an exception. Within minutes of arriving back home with the top tier of our wedding cake, my wife and I proceeding to eat it. In my entire life, I’ve never had anything that comes close to Jennifer’s cake.
Jennifer’s pride in her work truly shines. The cake costs a little (but not much) more. However, with planning an event as stressful as a wedding, my advice is pay a little more so you don’t have to worry about the cake.

I chose Jennifer because she makes the best buttercream in the entire world.
I don’t like most cakes and i’ve ever had a wedding cake that tasted good to me. It’s always too dry and too sweet. When I started to plan my wedding I knew my number one cake priority was flavor.
I chose well. Jennifer is super nice and fun to work with and she was so enthusiastic about our carnival wedding theme that she suggested we have cupcakes so she could come up with special flavors to go with it.
We went with a carrot-​ginger wedding cake (decorated in with a smooth ombré design in our wedding colors and one big pink sugar paste flower Jen made beautifully) and 4 dozen carnival themed cupcakes. She came up with: Churro, Cracker Jack, Strawberry Lemonade and S’Mores.
The wedding cake was gorgeous! The cupcakes were beautiful and I can say that not only was this the best wedding cake I’ve ever had, I can honestly say it was THE BEST CAKE I’VE EVER EATEN! People were raving about them and stuffing them in their pockets to take home.
When we did our cake-​cutting thing and fed each other pieces of the cake for the photos, I accidentally said «oh damn» under my breath and everyone started laughing.
I will be ordering cakes and cupcakes for any and all occasions from Beyond Buttercream and if you are looking for a truly beautiful and delicious wedding cake as well as a super nice and professional cake artist, Beyond Buttercream is the way to go!

Can I give ten stars?
First off, I am gluten intolerant and so is most of my family and many of my friends. This presented me with quite a conundrum when trying to decide what to do about a wedding cake for my wedding. I called and e-​mailed about twenty Bay-​area bakers and none really seemed to possess the artistry needed to make a wedding cake beautiful and the baking skill to make a gluten-​free cake that didn’t taste like play-​doh was a primary ingredient. I didn’t want to subject my guests to icky cake just because of my own dietary needs. I had almost decided to forgo cake at all at my wedding or just have cake, but not be able to eat it. Pretty sad, right?
Then (straight from the gates of heaven) I found Jen! She was, first off, amazing to communicate with– very clear, great personality, very understanding, seems like a fun gal. We decided on a cake design and a bunch of gluten-​free lemon cupcakes with toasted meringue. I had high hopes because I had seen her decorative artistry online, but you know, gluten-​free cake can be a little questionable at times so I had my expectations in check.
So yesterday (my wedding day) my fiancé texts me while I’m getting all dolled up and tells me the cake and cupcakes look unbelievably amazing. (Five stars for Jen!) Then, at our venue I got to finally see my cake. I wanted to cry. It was so adorable and perfect. Absolute CAKE ART. This cake (and the cupcakes) were such a hit! When I finally got a chance to dive into it… WOW– the look, the taste, the texture. Truly EVERYTHING about this cake and the cupcakes was amazing. (Another five points for Jen!) I know I will cherish the memory of cutting into this fantastic little wedding cake and then… get this… being able to EAT it too. It was divine.
So, my impossible cake dream came true, thanks to Jen, and not only did she blow my expectations out of the water, but she was a pleasure to work with. Jen is like the Chuck Norris of cake.

I recently had the opportunity to sample a few cupcakes from Beyond Buttercream.
Oh. My. Goodness.
At the risk of boring readers with my detailed explanation of how freaking amazing each bite was, I’ll focus on my two favorite cupcakes.
I knew by the description that I would love the Salted Crème Brulee. The salty/​sweet combination is one of my favorites. And caramel? Yes please! But I was prepared. Perhaps the cupcake wouldn’t live up to my expectation. I’m pleased to state that this cupcake not only lived up to my expectation, but it far surpassed it. The devil’s food cake was moist and flavorful. And the frosting. Oh that frosting! I haven’t loved frosting for many years, but this wasn’t the sickly sweet flavor of a generic cupcake. This frosting was sweet without overpowering the tastebuds. The fleur de sel only completed the dish.
I am in love with this cupcake.
However the big surprise was the German Chocolate cupcake. This was my favorite flavor in my youth, but I outgrew it many years ago. And then I tried this. Imagine the amazing devil’s food cake mentioned above but with a coconut pecan icing that tastes like heaven. If you like German Chocolate cake at all, then you must consider this. It will be the best German Chocolate cake/​cupcake of your life.
I will be contacted Jennifer for my next event. Her charm and those cupcakes are not to be ignored.

Beyond Buttercream cupcakes are amazing!
I contacted Jennifer for a 2 dozen order for delivery, and she accommodated everything perfectly. I requested 2 different cake batters, with 4 different toppings along with custom decorations, providing details of what I was looking for, trusting Jennifer to put everything together without a specific image to check from. The cupcakes turned out beautifully and the flavors were excellent. She accommodated some last minute additions as well and was a pleasure to work with.
I would definitely do business with Beyond Buttercream again in the future!

We found Jennifer Bratko of From Scratch through Offbeat Bride and I am so glad! We hired her to do our wedding cake for about 60 people as well as cupcake favors for everyone in the same flavor as the cake. The cake was raspberry almond with alternating layers of lemon curd and lemon buttercream, covered in turquoise-​tinted vanilla buttercream, with a hand-​painted fondant ribbon.
The cake was sublime! My only regret is not getting a second piece. Everyone raved about it, and it was beautiful to boot! Don’t hesitate to hire her for your special cake-​you won’t regret it! And if raspberries are in season, make sure to try the raspberry-​almond cake. To die for!

I had the pleasure of trying cupcakes from From Scratch at a Unilocal Event. Both the chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and the chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting were delicious. The cupcakes were moist and tasted homemade, in a good way. And the frosting was nice and light. I wish more bakeries had cupcakes like these.
From Scratch doesn’t have a storefront unfortunately, but I bet it would be easy to order from Jennifer because she seemed super nice. And props to her for coming out to the event even though she’s pregnant!